The need is certainly there. Let others go for the glamor positions. The Giants in the first round of tomorrow’s NFL Draft will be focused on selecting a wide body who as early as this season can step right in and start for them at left guard.

While some may roll their eyes and find it impossible to get excited about an 8-8 team adding an interior offensive linemen, the Giants are convinced that is their most glaring hole that needs filling.

No matter if Kent Graham or Kerry Collins gets the call at quarterback, if Gary Brown and Tiki Barber can handle the load at running back or if youngsters Ike Hilliard, Joe Jurevicious and Brian Alford are real deals at receiver. The Giants’ still-suspect offense will not take a dramatic step forward without improved play up front. It starts with talent and the Giants simply don’t have enough of it on their offensive line.

After years of watching and waiting for first-round disappointments like Derek Brown, Thomas Lewis, Tyrone Wheatley and Cedric Jones, Jim Fassel has set as a goal to have this year’s top pick make a major contribution.

In his two drafts, he was unlucky in 1997 (Hilliard was injured and gone only two games into his rookie season) and surprised last year, when safety Shaun Williams, high on the team’s draft board, dropped down to No. 24, where the Giants took him and then had difficulty all season squeezing him into their deep secondary.

There should be no such maneuvering this time around. Offensive line is one of the strengths of this draft and an athlete should be available at No. 19 who has the ability to learn the system and work his way into the starting lineup.

Is that too much to ask? Not when last year’s left guard, Greg Bishop, was allowed to leave as a free agent (he signed with the Falcons), leaving untested and unheralded Nate Miller, Jason Whittle and the unsigned Lonnie Palelei as possible replacements. If the Giants cannot find a lineman in this draft to overtake that group, something is wrong.

Anticipating the choice of a lineman is the easy part. Guessing who the selection will be is more difficult. The consensus is that the top two line prospects, John Tait of BYU and L.J. Shelton of Eastern Michigan, will be long gone by the time the Giants get to pick.

It is probably 50-50 that Aaron Gibson of Wisconsin is still on the board, and if he is, he’ll be snatched up in a heartbeat, as Gibson is a 6-6, 371-pounder who is a devastating run-blocker. Some teams may be scared off by his size – he entered school at 427 pounds – and that he is not mobile enough to play right tackle. The Giants would eagerly move him inside to guard and run behind him.

“We think he’s probably the most unique individual to enter the NFL Draft, because of the enormity of his size and the attention he demands,” said Milt Thompson, Gibson’s agent. “Aaron is a nice guy outside of the lines and inside them he’ll want to tear your head off.”

In the right situation, Thompson sees plenty of endorsement potential for Gibson, ala William “The Refrigerator” Perry. “‘He will be a marketing commodity in the right market,” Thompson said.

For the moment, the Giants will settle for someone to start on their line. The most accomplished pure guard in the draft is probably Doug Brzezinski, a four-year starter at Boston College, and Jonathan Feinsod, who along with Neil Schwartz is the agent for Brzezinski, says “I know the Giants really like Doug.” Taking him at the 19th pick, though, would be an extreme reach, as Brzezinski is more likely a second-round value.

“If they don’t take him at 19 they’re not going to get him with their second-round pick,” Feinsod said.

Most likely, if Gibson is gone, the Giants will choose between Matt Stinchcomb of Georgia, Damien Woody of Boston College, Jon Jansen of Michigan and Solomon Page of West Virginia. All were tackles in college with the exception of Woody, who is the best center in the draft and would be an interesting choice.

Woody at 328 pounds is a superior athlete – he’s the point guard on his intramural basketball team – and he should be able to make a swift transition to guard. Woody, who passed up his senior year, would be insurance against a failed comeback attempt by center Brian Williams, and he’s also a fine prospect at guard, as he’s only 21 years old.

“All I care about is getting on the field and playing,” Woody said yesterday from his home in Richmond, Va. “I think I bring athleticism for a lineman. I can be a guy who can be a cornerstone lineman for a long time. I heard the Giants need help on their line, and I think it’s a terrific spot for me.”

In later rounds, the Giants will likely add a second offensive lineman, with Luke Petitgout of Notre Dame and Floyd Wedderburn of Penn State possibilities, and maybe Lennie Friedman of Duke (by way of West Milford, N.J.).